Dissertation
The Female Journey: Identity and Development in Women's Autobiography
(1991)
Abstract
This study of women's autobiographical texts read as Bildungsroman focuses on the stages of the female experience in nineteenth- and twentieth-century French and Italian life stories. I analyze the journey through childhood, adolescence, interpersonal relationships, the woman in society, career and writing, and death. The study emphasizes the evolution of the female subject. In order to draw general conclusions about the autobiographical genre, I examine both recognized and non-canonical texts, including: George Sand's Histoire de ma vie (1847-55), Cristina di Belgiojoso's tale Emina (1856), Celeste Mogador's Memoires de Celeste Mogador (1854), Sibilla Aleramo's Una donna (1906), Marie Cardinal's Les mots pour le dire (1975), and Oriana Fallaci's Lettera a un bambino mai nato (1975). The protagonists range from writers to prostitutes, yet they all experience "awakening." I link the texts through focusing on the mother-daughter relationship. In the nineteenth century the narrative voice is commonly the daughter's perspective, whereas in the twentieth century the maternal voice becomes more prominent. The female autobiography often closes shortly after the mother's death, underscoring the protagonist's own mortality. Interpersonal relationships constantly surface and emphasize the importance of connection in women's lives. Character portraits evolve in the modern period. Nineteenth-century heroines commonly suffer tragic deaths or madness. Their fates serve to voice the author's pedagogical or polemical views. "Exceptional" heroines succeed despite obstacles. Historical, cultural and social factors determine both how, and how much, women writers express anger and injustice. Early twentieth-century authors begin to grapple with themes such as motherhood as institution and career versus family. These issues, along with abortion and single parenthood are treated frequently in the postmodern period. Furthermore, anger is expressed more openly from the nineteen-seventies onwards. Contemporary women writers experiment with character portraits, narrative strategies and plot structures in order to describe women's modern realities. Frank representations of feminine and feminist issues are engendering more "authentic" women's autobiographies, and the evolution of public perception and of women's self-image are redefining the genre.
Keywords
- Language,
- literature and linguistics,
- France,
- Italy,
- Social Sciences,
- French,
- Italian,
- George Sand,
- C\'eleste Mogador,
- Sibilla Aleramo,
- Marie Cardinal,
- Oriana Fallaci,
- Christina di Belgiojoso,
- Romance Literature,
- Comparative Literature,
- Women's Studies
Disciplines
Publication Date
1991
Degree
PhD
Advisors
Bowman, Frank Paul
Citation Information
Marrone, C. (1991). The Female Journey: Identity and Development in Women's Autobiography (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1991) (pp. 1-373). Ann Arbor, MI: UMI - Dissertations Publishing. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.enterprise.sacredheart.edu/docview/303950946?accountid=28645